by Brook Wilder
“I’m not letting you do that.”
“Abel, this is the only way. I’m afraid of what he might do if…”
“No!”
“I can handle this.”
Abel shakes his head.
“I’m going with you!”
“Not this time. You have to trust me. I have to do this on my own.”
He hesitates.
“Please…?”
He takes a deep breath.
“Okay. Okay.”
“Thanks, man. I’m gonna bring Amy home safe. That’s a promise.”
He looks at me for a long time.
“If anything happens to her, I don’t know what I might do.”
“I know. That’s why I’m gonna do this right. Okay?”
My heart is pounding. I know everything depends on me not fucking this up. The thought of what Lyle might do scares me. Amy’s life is at stake. Our unborn child’s life is at stake. Everything I love in the world is on the line tonight.
I’m asking Abel to trust me. But the most important thing is that I have to trust in myself. Lyle is a monster capable of anything. One mistake, and it’s all over. In my mind, I picture Amy’s terrified face. I must find a way to save her.
Chapter Nineteen
Dom
Abel and I ride in his cruiser. He turns on the sirens. He’s speeding. Running red lights. There’s this strange silence between us. I can see the worry in his eyes.
Hell, I’m scared as shit too. I know he’s counting on me. I know that if I make one mistake, it could be deadly. Especially with a son-of-a-bitch like Lyle.
Abel pulls into the parking lot of the club. It’s empty, but my motorcycle is still parked where I left it. I take a deep breath and reach for the door handle. Abel turns to me.
“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“No. I got it.”
“I could hang back. Keep my distance.”
“I have to do this on my own.”
He looks like he wants to say something else. But he doesn’t. He just slowly turns away. I can tell he’s emotional. The feeling is mutual. I know how much Amy means to him too.
I get out of the cruiser and run to my bike. I hop on and fire up the engine. I turn around and take off. Abel heads in the opposite direction.
I zoom down the highway. I can’t get to Harris Road fast enough. There’s nothing worse than the thought of Amy and our unborn child being in danger.
I pick up speed. It’s quiet out on the road. The sky is dark. I try not to think about the worst-case scenario, but so many of them cross my mind. Lyle holding Amy hostage… I’m angry enough to kill him with my bare hands.
I make my way down Harris. It’s a two-lane road surrounded by empty fields. There’s nothing there. No houses. No farms. Nothing. Just darkness and quiet. It’s eerie.
I must be going 90 miles per hour now. I hit 100. I blink away a tear. If I lose Amy tonight, I’ll lose everything. She’s my reason for waking up in the morning, the only thing that matters to me in the world.
I can still remember Abel’s face right before we parted ways. He’s my best friend, and he’s never been one to talk about emotional shit, but I know how much he loves his sister. There’s so much riding on my shoulders right now. I’ve never felt this kind of pressure before.
I turn down the winding road. In the distance, there’s only darkness. It crosses my mind that Lyle might have lied to me about where he had Amy. And how will I know until I get there?
Out here, there are no cell phone signals. The next gas station is, like, 20 miles away. This is as close as it gets to wilderness. Misty’s words haunt me as I realize that this is also the perfect place to make a body disappear.
In the distance, I see what looks like Lyle’s blue pickup truck. It’s dark, so I can’t really tell. I have on my headlight. I can see the silhouette of a figure as I approach.
Oh my God! It’s Lyle. He’s standing outside, smoking a cigarette. There’s no sign of Amy. I’m gonna kill this motherfucker!
I speed up to him, and dust from my motorcycle kicks up everywhere. I hop off of my bike ready to punch that bastard in his face. He puts out his cigarette and glares at me.
“Took you long enough.”
“Where is she?!”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m the one asking the questions.”
I hear a noise. I look inside of his truck and see Amy. She’s locked in the backseat, kicking the door. She has a gag tie around her mouth. The scared look in her eyes makes me want to pounce on Lyle. But I know I have to stay calm. The most important thing is walking out with Amy alive.
“Let her out!”
“I’m the one gives out the damn orders!”
“Fuck you!”
“You’d better be nice to me. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to your precious Amy. I know you’ve been fucking her. And she’s got you so pussy-whipped that you can’t even think straight.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
I ball up my fist. I want to knock the teeth out of his mouth.
He laughs and opens the backseat of the truck and pulls Amy out by her arms. She cries out in pain. I run over to him. I can’t hold back any longer. Not for another fucking second. The only thing on my mind is choking him to death.
In one quick motion, he grabs his gun and points it at me. Lyle smirks and shakes his head.
“You’d better watch it, lover boy.”
“Oh my God, Amy!”
Tears stream down Amy’s face. I want to run to her and take her in my arms. But I know that if I make one false move, Lyle will kill both of us.
Amy is on the ground. Her body trembles. I think about our unborn child, and I am on the verge of tears. The only thing stopping me from annihilating Lyle is that gun in his hands.
He kneels down close to her and smooths her hair. She recoils from his touch and backs away.
“There, there, beautiful. Don’t worry about a thing. Daddy’s gonna take good care of you. Just the way you like.”
He removes the gag tie from her mouth. She screams out in pain.
“Fuck you!”
“Don’t talk to me like that, baby. Come on, it’s me. Lyle.”
She glares at him.
“I know what your problem is. You think you’re too good for me. And an even bigger problem, you think you’re too smart for me.”
She spits in his face.
He laughs as he wipes it off.
“That’s cute. But I’ll tell you one thing. I’ve never liked surprises. And what you tried to do wasn’t cute. When you called me on the phone tonight, I thought... I thought we were gonna have a chance to be together.”
I want to vomit in my mouth, hearing him talk like that to her. I feel helpless with his gun still pointed at me.
“I thought you had finally come to your senses. Adam never deserved you. And neither does this piece of trash.”
He glances at me and then turns back to her.
“You and I belong together, Amy. Don’t you see that? And when it’s all said and done, you’ll be happy with me.”
She shakes her head no.
“But what you tried to pull tonight was out of line. Asking me questions about Beth, like you think I had something to do with it!”
I take a step towards him.
“You did have something to do with it! You killed her!”
He points his gun higher.
“Step the fuck back, Dom! I’ll blow your fucking brains out!”
She looks up at him.
“I always knew she didn’t just ‘disappear.’ And those other girls too, all brunettes with blue eyes. It was you, Lyle. You know you did it.”
He laughs.
“Really? That’s what you think? You’re crazy. Both of you.”
She cuts her eyes at him.
“And the high school girls told me all about you, Lyle. Stalking them. Sleeping with them. You’re disgusting.”
He shak
es his head.
“You can’t believe those lying little bitches.”
“You’re the liar. I know all about everything.”
“That’s what you think. But you’re wrong.”
He pauses.
“Let’s just pretend for a minute I would do something like that. That means you’d better not fuck with me. I could make you disappear like those other girls.”
Amy’s eyes get wide.
“You and your little boyfriend.” He turns to me. “I could make you both disappear, just like the others. There are lots of easy ways to get rid of a body. So, both of you better watch how you talk to me.”
He crouches down next to her. He’s practically whispering in her ear, but I can make out every word.
“You know what gets me, what really turns me on? It’s the look in a girl’s eyes right before I’m about to kill her. She sees the knife or the gun, and she knows it’s all over. She gives up fighting. No use resisting anymore. She knows I’m in control.”
This bastard is pissing me off more and more by the second. But somehow I manage to keep my cool. I can’t believe the crazy shit he’s saying.
“That look of fear... It turns me on more than anything. It gets me so hard. Like right now. The way you’re looking at me... That’s the same way Beth looked at me right before I slit her pretty little throat.”
I lunge at him.
“Fuck you!”
He cocks his gun.
“You better calm down if you know what’s good for you.”
The crazed look in his eyes scares me. He turns back to Amy and touches her hair. Her body trembles. She’s just as scared as I am.
“Like I was saying, it gives me a thrill like nothing else. But, for you, I could change. I can kill this motherfucker, get rid of his body, and we can live happily ever after. How about that? Or better yet, I can stick to my original plan and pin all those murders on Dom.”
He sits down on the ground next to her and beckons her closer.
“Come, sit on Daddy’s lap.”
She shakes her head no.
“Come on.”
She slowly obeys Lyle. I wish I could do something, but I’m powerless to stop him. She frowns and turns away from him. He grabs her by the chin and forces her to look at him. The whole time, he keeps his gun pointed at me.
“You feel that. You see how hard I am!”
Tears stream down Amy’s cheeks.
“Baby, I always wanted you to myself. I could never let anything get in the way of that. Not even Adam. He crossed the line. I had to deal with him. You understand, right?”
The blood drains from Amy’s face. She’s pale with fear. I can’t take another second of this. I leap towards Lyle. He pulls the trigger, and a bullet goes off. Thank God it doesn’t hit anything. Amy elbows him in the stomach. He drops his gun.
As he reaches for it, Amy gets something out of her pocket. My heart is beating fast. Does she have a gun too? I run towards her.
Just before Lyle reaches for his gun, he closes his eyes and screams. I smile when I realize that Amy has hit him with pepper spray. I hurry towards him, while he’s still on the ground, fumbling for his gun.
I punch him in his jaw. He screams. He looks dazed. Within seconds I overpower him. I kick that bastard in the nuts, then restrain him with his own handcuffs. He’s breathing hard.
I grab his gun off the ground and point it at him. I want to blow this motherfucker’s brains out. I’m emotional, thinking about how he killed Beth and the trauma he put Amy through.
“No! Don’t!”
Amy runs to me.
I hesitate.
“Dom. Please… He’s not worth it.”
I stare at Lyle for a long time. Then I slowly lower my gun. The only reason why I didn’t pull the trigger is because of the love of my life.
Lyle laughs. That sick fuck. There’s no telling what’s going on in his head. Not like I care.
Amy wraps her arms all around me. It feels so good to hold her close again. There are no words for how scared I was. I thought we might both end up dead.
“Oh my God, Dom.”
“I know. I know. It’s over now.”
Amy cries. But these are tears of joy. I’m all emotional too. But I haven’t forgotten about Lyle. He sits there with a stupid look on his face. I turn to him.
“You’re gonna pay for what you did to Beth.”
He smirks.
“Good luck with that. You have no proof of anything.”
Amy shakes her head.
“That’s not true.”
Lyle glares at her.
“You don’t have any so-called ‘evidence.’”
Amy reaches in her jacket and retrieves her phone.
“What? You’re gonna call the police? I am the fucking police!”
Amy presses a button on her phone.
“I got all of it. Right here. I recorded everything you said.”
His eyes get wide.
“Fuck you, bitch!”
“Don’t talk to her like that!”
“Fuck both of you!”
The terrified look in Amy’s eyes is gone. Now she looks completely in control.
“They’re gonna lock your ass in a cage and throw away the key!”
For the first time ever, I see fear in Lyle’s eyes. It’s almost like he knows it’s all over. He bites his lip. He looks to be on the verge of tears.
Amy shakes her head at him.
“You’re so fucking pathetic. But don’t worry. You’re gonna get exactly what’s coming to you.”
I hold Amy close to me. I’m so proud of her. This strong, courageous, brilliant woman is all mine, and I never want to let her go. I came so close to losing her, just like I lost Beth. I’m still overwhelmed.
I look down at that piece of shit Lyle. He is a monster. Amy is right. I hope he gets everything that’s coming to him.
Chapter Twenty
Amy
I’m in a state of shock as I look down at Lyle in handcuffs. Dom wraps his arms around me. I can’t believe it’s all over. For the first time in a long time, I’m not afraid anymore.
I look up at Dom and smile. My emotions are all over the place. There’s so much I want to say, but I just can’t put it to words. I embrace him and caress his face. It’s a struggle for me to fight back my tears.
“You just don’t know.”
“Amy…”
“I was afraid. I thought I was gonna lose you. I thought... I thought you were going to end up like Adam.”
There’s a long pause.
“I know. I know you were scared. But I’m right here. And that’s where I’m always gonna be.”
A tear streams down my face.
He wipes it away with his thumb.
“Do you understand that?”
I slowly nod.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We share a kiss. After all we’ve been through, I am looking forward to brand new beginning. A few feet away, Lyle is glaring at us. The evil in his eyes is as clear as the moonlight above. But it doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing that matters is this moment with me and Dom.
A few minutes later, I hear police sirens in the distance and see the familiar flash of blue-and-red lights. Abel arrives on the scene with two other sheriffs for backup. I wonder how they found us so fast, way out here in the middle of nowhere.
Abel gets out of his cruiser. His eyes grow wide at the sight of Lyle. The other two sheriffs escort Lyle to the back of their cruiser.
Lyle’s face is red with anger.
“What the hell? You can’t do this to me!”
One of the sheriffs stares at him in disgust.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law…”
Lyle tries to resist as they throw him into the back of the cruiser.
One of the sheriffs turns to Abel.